LaLiga tests out Sceenic’s Watch Together on OTT platform

Software allows fans to react and comment on OTT platform in real-time with friends Spain’s LaLiga has partnered with shared viewing platform Sceenic to run a pilot featuring its Watch Together software solution. Sceenic’s Watch Together software solution will be integrated into LaLiga’s OTT platform for the pilot, allowing fans to stream games, and react […]

Whisper retains C4 Formula 1 deal

Indie to produce channel’s coverage for 2020 as Sony mulls stake Whisper has retained the contract for Channel 4’s Formula 1 coverage for a fourth year as Sony mulls over taking a stake in David Coulthard’s indie. Broadcast understands the indie recently emerged victorious against another leading sports producer after a two-month tender process, which […]

LaLiga reveals series of tech innovations at Madrid event

The tech advancements are based on business intelligence, analytics and machine learning   LaLiga has unveiled a series of tech innovations at its Technology, the secret behind LaLiga event, held at its offices in Madrid. The sports federation used the event to reveal details of new and emerging projects that have been developed by LaLiga in recent […]

Eleven Sports to give fans ‘seconds after live’ social media clips

Broadcaster partners with cloud editing platform Blackbird to speed up content delivery to sports fans Eleven Sports has agreed a two-year contract with cloud video editing platform Blackbird for the rapid editing and publishing of sports content online. The broadcaster’s OTT platform delivers thousands of hours of sports content to its global subscriber base. It […]

EVS AI-driven offside line wins FIFA seal of approval

The tech in VAR product Xeebra uses machine learning to create an offside line overlay EVS’s AI-driven offside line tech has received certification from FIFA for meeting its standards for dealing with the complexities of precisely determining the offside line The offside tech – which is integrated into EVS’s Xeebra VAR system – uses machine […]

Amazon catches Aussie cricket doc

Local producer prepares multi-part series Justin Langer: Australian cricket coach Amazon has gained exclusive access to the Australian cricket team at a time of change for the former world number one side. Australian indie duo CA Film and Whooshka Media, in association with Cricket Australia, is producing The Test: A New Era for Australia’s Team, which […]

All Formula E races to go free-to-air on the BBC

Fans in the UK can watch live Formula E races on different BBC platforms as well as Eurosport and Quest The BBC is to televise all of this season’s Formula E races live, on free-to-air TV and online. The Marrakesh e-prix in Morocco on 29 February and Rome e-prix on 4 April will go out […]

BT Sport retains Champions League rights in £1.2bn deal

Broadcaster fended off bids from ITV and Sky BT Sport has retained the rights to broadcast Champions League games for another three seasons in a deal worth £1.2 billion. The new deal is worth £400m a year, slightly up on the 2018-2021 rights cycle which is worth £394m a year. As such, UEFA has protected […]

Dazn enters the ring with Sylvester Stallone

Boxing series is first fruits of sports streamer’s partnership with Balboa Productions Sports streamer Dazn has inked a global creative partnership deal with Sylvester Stallone’s Balboa Productions, kicking off with a feature doc series about boxing. One Night is a set of films looking back at indelible nights in recent boxing history, kicking off with analysis […]

SquashTV to broadcast Men’s Squash Championship live to 3m global fans

D2C coverage, together with Facebook streams, will see squash tournament reach large audience worldwide SquashTV will broadcast the Men’s World Team Squash Championship (held 15-21 December in Washington D.C.) for free globally, after reaching an agreement with the World Squash Federation (WSF) and tournament hosts Squash on Fire. The D2C platform Squash TV, which is […]

BBC resolves SPOTY complaint with two sports indies

Sunset+Vine and Done and Dusted compensated for travel costs in failed bids The BBC has resolved a complaint from two sports producers over the Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY) tender process, Broadcast understands. The corporation has given both Tinopolis-backed Sunset + Vine and live events firm Done and Dusted a small amount of compensation for their […]

Facebook eyes niche sports

Social media giant’s strategy is to focus on live events that are ‘under-served’ by broadcasters   Facebook is concentrating its sports strategy on “underserved” events that are not being shown by the traditional broadcasters, according to the US tech giant’s head of global live sports. Peter Hutton cited sports including surfing and Ironman as appealing […]

Red Bee launches women’s football streamer

OTT service will launch early next year Swedish sports rights agency Spring Media has partnered with Red Bee Media to launch the world’s first women’s football streaming service. The duo have formed Wnited, which will launch early next year with more than 300 live matches across its first 12 months, along with a range of […]

Kipchoge marathon reaches 500m+ TV viewers

The INEOS 1:59 Challenge gets 4.9m YouTube views and reached 500m+ TV viewers Host broadcaster Sunset+Vine has revealed viewing figures for Eliud Kipchoge’s successful attempt at breaking the 2-hour marathon on Saturday morning. The marathon, which took place in central Vienna, saw Kipchoge finish in just 1h59m40s. It was streamed live on YouTube, broadcast on […]

Premier Sports launches LaLigaTV streaming service

Channel dedicated to Spain’s La Liga is available in the UK and Ireland from today. Premier Sports has launched its dedicated English-language channel dedicated to Spain’s LaLiga. LaLigaTV is available from today in the UK and Ireland via the Premier Player OTT streaming service, costing £5.99 per month or £49 annually. Premier Sports began broadcasting […]

BT Sport and Rise team up on schools outreach programme

The Rise-Up programme aims to inspire children to consider a career in broadcast, in tech and engineering roles BT Sport has teamed up with Rise – an advocate group for gender diversity – to launch new schools outreach programme, Rise-Up. The aim of Rise-Up is to “inspire and educate children about engineering and technology opportunities […]

Vodafone survey reveals high expectations for 5G innovation in sports

5G anticipated to drive improvements in fan engagement and open up new revenue opportunities Vodafone has released research revealing sports organisations believe the rollout of 5G will drive new and innovative fan experiences. The telco questioned 250 decision-makers in the sports sector across the UK, with 76% of respondents saying they will use 5G as […]

Linius personalised sport highlight reels launched in Europe

Australian company is targeting its cloud-based video editing service at European sports organisations  Linius is launching its personalised highlight reel product Sports Club Solution across Europe. It’s linking up with video platform provider Swanbay for the rollout. Linius Sports Club Solution enables sports organisations and fans to assemble and compile sports footage, and quickly create personalised […]

J.League introduces AI-created personalised highlights

Japanese soccer league is providing fans with bespoke highlight clips, using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) The top-flight of Japanese soccer, J.League is using AI to create personalised highlight clips of Japanese football content. AI specialist WSC Sports is working with J.League to automatically generate and distribute tailored sports video content in near […]

Copa90 launches dedicated women’s football show

That’s The Tea looks to build on momentum of Women’s World Cup Football platform Copa90 is launching its first show devoted to the women’s game, That’s The Tea. Sports presenter Nicole Holliday presents the first episode of That’s The Tea (TTT), hosting guests: DJ and former Chelsea player Monki; West Ham midfielder Julia Simic; and […]

Sports Channel Network picks up rugby head injury doc, Head On

Rugby doc will TX on free-to-air channel in the UK A new documentary, Head On, which tackles the issue of head injuries in rugby -– is being screened in the UK exclusively by Sports Channel Network. There’s been an increase in the number of head and neck injuries in the sport, which has driven changes in […]

Lillehammer upgrades stadium video offer for fans

Norwegian ice-hockey team purchases Ross Video kit to improve fan experience Norwegian ice-hockey team Lillehammer IK has upgraded its stadium big screen offering in a bid to improve the quality of the match-day experience for fans. The club appointed Danmon Group Norway to help upgrade the Eidsiva Arena to include video production, mixing creative content […]

La Liga shortlists 10 finalists for tech innovation competition

10 startups chosen for accelerator programme and for potential use by LaLiga in the production and/or broadcast of its content La Liga has picked the 10 companies that have made it through to the finals of its Startup Competition 2019. The content, which kicked off in March, is a partnership between La Liga and Microsoft’s […]

Noah Media Group forms global sales arm

Sports doc indie kicks off launch with Amazon and BBC sales of cricket feature film The Edge   Sports documentary specialist Noah Media Group has hired a former Atlantic Productions exec to head an international sales division. The London-based sales arm is led by Catherine Quantschnigg, formerly head of sales at factual indie Atlantic Productions. […]

Spalk extends live commentary options for Rugby World Cup 2019

The Rugby World Cup 2019 has teamed up with ‘Virtual Sportscasting Studio’ Spalk to provide rugby fans around the world with the choice of German, Spanish and Japanese live commentaries for every match. A total of 20+ commentators in 15 countries will be commentating from Spalk’s Virtual Studio across the six-week tournament. They have been […]

The European Tour launches innovation competition to “enhance golf”

New contest is aimed at start-ups and is seeking innovations that will appeal to golf fans The European Tour has launched an innovation contest for start-ups aimed at developing new creative concepts to enhance golf. The European Tour Innovation Hub competition is being run with Tata Communications and is seeking ideas that can be developed […]

ITV creates ‘window on the world’ for its Rugby World Cup studio

Broadcaster’s studio set uses mixed reality to show stylised Japanese cityscapes out of huge panoramic ‘windows’   ITV has turned to mixed reality to create a ‘window on the world’ for its Rugby World Cup 2019 studio. The studio builds on the approach it took for the men’s football World Cup studio in Russia, where augmented […]

EVS introduces AI-driven football automation system Overcam

The product automates robotic cameras covering football, with natural looking framing of the action EVS has revealed automation product Overcam, marking the sports tech giant’s first major move into AI-driven camera automation. Overcam automates key camera positions, delivering additional camera coverage at lower cost. It uses machine learning techniques to mimic traditional camera framing, providing […]

Man City, Intel launch immersive highlights

Fans can watch key moments of a match from any angle on their phone Intel and Manchester City have launched an immersive highlights experience that can be viewed on mobile phones. Intel’s True View technology allows fans to watch key moments of a match from any angle on their phone. Immersive highlights are captured with […]

Salsa Sound launches AI audio mixing for football matches

Automated system creates real-time immersive audio mixes using patented artificial intelligence (AI) Salsa Sound has launched an innovative, automated system that creates live audio mixes of football matches. It is based on Salsa Sound’s patented AI technology, which takes the audio from standard broadcast microphones at a venue and automatically creates a real-time mix. This […]

League of Legends Pro League finals unveil AR world’s first

The opening ceremony for the esports finals features a real-time AR gaming character being interviewed and joining a dance troupe on-stage Real-time facial animation and live ray tracing was used for the first time during the live broadcast of Riot Games’ League of Legends Pro League (LPL) regional finals. The broadcast saw an AR computer […]

Mobile Viewpoint reveals 4K camera for its sports automation system

Company bolsters the quality of image acquisition for its automated sports production and distribution system Mobile Viewpoint has launched the IQ X-Cam – a multi-4K camera system designed to be used by its artificial intelligence (AI) sports production and distribution automation system IQ Sports Producer. The IQ X-Cam IP camera can capture panoramic images in […]

DAZN unveils virtual production facility

First hub opens in Madrid, with Leeds broadcast centre next to be connected Sports streamer DAZN has launched its first virtual production facility. The facility, which is based on NEP’s production platform, makes a variety of production resources including live logging, editing, commentary, and graphic design accessible remotely from any location around the world, all […]

Eurosport serves up live Laver Cup coverage

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer among players at this month’s three-day competition Eurosport is to broadcast live and multi-platform coverage of this year’s Laver Cup tennis competition across Europe. A new agreement grants Eurosport rights to the Laver Cup in more than 50 European markets, including Switzerland, where this year’s event will be hosted at […]

BT Sport broadcasts live 8K rugby at IBC 2019

Broadcaster behind one of the world’s first live 8K sports broadcasts BT Sport used IBC 2019 to demonstrate one of the world’s first live 8K sports broadcasts – of the Gallagher Premiership Rugby 7s tournament. The images were captured in 8K on a single Ikegami SHK-810 8K system camera with Fujinon lenses and displayed on […]

BT Sport moves to remote production for National League

Broadcaster will cover more National League live games than before and create weekly presenter-led highlights show BT Sport is using remote production to dramatically increase its live coverage of the Vanarama National League (the fifth tier of the English football league system) and turnaround highlights from all weekly matches much faster than before. This season, […]

Rugby World Cup 2019 to offer fan-controlled 3D highlights

Seven matches from the tournament, which kicks off on Friday 20 September, will have highlights created by Canon’s Free Viewpoint Video System Seven Rugby World Cup 2019 matches will offer fans post-match highlights with viewpoints and angles not possible with conventional cameras. Canon’s Free Viewpoint Video System is being used to create replays the company […]

Input Media to produce Premier League show for Mola TV

Indonesian broadcaster will broadcast its Premier League show from Input Media’s West London studio Input Media is producing a new studio-based Premier League football show for Indonesian broadcaster Mola TV. It is looking after the broadcaster’s studio wrap-around show, which goes out during a selection of live games throughout the Premier League season. Input Media […]

Eurosport to broadcast World Urban Games

BMX freestyle, parkour, breaking and 3×3 basketball among competition events at this month’s Games Eurosport is to broadcast live coverage from the inaugural World Urban Games Budapest 2019. The World Urban Games takes place from 13-15 September 2019 and features six competition events – BMX freestyle, parkour, breaking, 3×3 basketball, flying disc freestyle and roller […]

Premier Sports brings La Liga to UK

‘Historic’ three-year deal covers all Spanish league games and introduces dedicated platform LaLiga and Premier Sports have announced a “historic agreement” that will see all La Liga games to the end of the 2021/22 season broadcast in the UK and Ireland. It has also revealed the launch of LaLigaTV; a dedicated 24/7 channel in the […]

Maidstone Studios lands ITV Rugby World Cup 2019 deal

ITV Sport’s coverage of the Rugby World Cup 2019 will be hosted and broadcast live from Maidstone Studios Maidstone Studios has revealed it will host all ITV Sport’s live studio coverage of the Rugby World Cup Japan 2019. Throughout the tournament, which kicks off on Friday 20 September and runs for six weeks, Maidstone Studios […]

5G technology: A revolution is on the way

The arrival of 5G has the potential to completely change the way sporting events are produced and watched, says Matt Stagg   Ask any sport fan about their preference for viewing the game and the answer is likely to be either in the stadium, in the pub with friends, or at home in front of the […]

MotoGP: Full throttle action

Covering the Silverstone MotoGP race meeting for BT Sport is a mammoth operation for North One, with 26 hours of live outside broadcast over three days   It’s late on Friday afternoon at Silverstone and production house North One has already been live-to-air on BT Sport for eight hours straight. A premium presentation and commentary team have been busy fronting the show throughout the […]

Six Day Series: Fast track to success

Revitalising one of cycling’s first ever track events, the Six Day Series is making innovative use of data to educate first-time fans and grow its audience   The growth in shorter TV sports formats, marrying cutting-edge on-screen technologies with rousing in-stadium entertainment, continues at full pace. Cycling’s version – the Six Day Series – hit its […]

COPA90 reveals exclusive content for Women’s Super League

Matchday previews and social media ‘takeovers’ make up COPA90’s content this weekend COPA90 has created a mixture of content to mark the kick off of the Barclays FA Women’s Super League this weekend. COPA90 has produced a matchday preview for the Manchester City vs Manchester United game, featuring City’s captain Steph Houghton, which is now […]